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ARTICLE · 30 MARCH 2026

FCC Expands Its Covered List To Include Foreign-Produced Routers

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On March 23, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced the addition of routers produced in foreign countries to the FCC's Covered List, based on a recent National Security Determination (the “Determination”). This action includes routers that are manufactured, assembled, designed, or developed in foreign countries.

United StatesGovernment, Public Sector
Adam S. Hickey
Adam S. Hickey
Nicholas T. Jackson
Nicholas T. Jackson
Mickey Leibner
Mickey Leibner
Howard W. Waltzman
Howard W. Waltzman
Anjani D. Nadadur
Anjani D. Nadadur
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On March 23, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced the addition of routers produced in foreign countries to the FCC's Covered List, based on a recent National Security Determination (the “Determination”). This action includes routers that are manufactured, assembled, designed, or developed in foreign countries.

As with any equipment on the Covered List, the FCC will not issue new equipment authorizations for covered routers, which will stop new imports, marketing, and sales of foreign-produced routers in the United States, absent a conditional approval granted by the Department of War (“DoW”) or the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). The action follows the FCC’s December 2025 addition of foreign-produced uncrewed aircraft systems (“UAS”) and UAS critical components to the Covered List,1 and represents a continued expansion of the category-wide, place-of-production-based approach to Covered List restrictions first seen in that earlier action.

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